Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) announced the appointment of Donna Morea as chair of its board of directors. Morea succeeds Edward "Sandy" Sanderson, Jr., who has been serving as chair of the board since the company's separation from its parent company in September 2013. The appointment will be effective following the closing of SAIC's planned acquisition of Engility Holdings, Inc., in January 2019. Sanderson will remain as an independent member of the board. Morea has served as a director of SAIC since 2013. She served from 2004 until her retirement in 2011 as president of CGI Technology and Solutions, Inc., a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of CGI Group, one of the largest independent information technology firms in North America. She currently serves as an independent director of SunTrust Banks (STI) and as a trustee of the Inova Health System.

Keefe, wanting to own defensive banks, downgrades Comerica and KeyCorp. Keefe Bruyette analyst Brian Klock expects the narrative in 2019 to shift to "defensive banks that can grow earnings using other levers rather than depending on rates." With that in mind, the analyst downgraded both Comerica (CMA) and KeyCorp (KEY) to Market Perform from Outperform. Comerica's revenue and earnings growth are largely dependent upon future Fed funds hikes, Klock tells investors in a research note. Further, he sees risk to his revenue growth assumptions next year for KeyCorp and does not see 2019 as the year the company's price-to-earnings multiple closes the discount compared to peers. Klock's top overweight picks among the Large Regionals are Citizens Financial (CFG), M&T Bank (MTB), SunTrust (STI) and Zions Bancorp (ZION).